Self-discipline vs. Motivation

Motivation; The first time I heard that word, used generously, was when I taught classroom music in a school for gifted children in the 1980s. It was starting to be a "buzz" word in classroom education for slower learners. The school served children with learning disabilities and recognized that many children were not able to develop tools that are necessary for success in life. It became commonplace to hear statements like, Jimmy could not finish the task because he was not motivated.  It was a gentler way of speaking about a student's learning challenges. 

Self-discipline helps an individual achieve by building constructive habits that lead to success in sports, arts, science, religion, or any other field of choice. Motivation is feeling pressed to do a task because of one's emotions. A boy is motivated to attend soccer practice because he will feel embarrassed in front of his peers if he stays home to play video games. That boy is motivated. A young girl gets up at 4:00am every morning to catch the bus to go to the skating rink, and practice by herself, before she has to go to school. This girl has self-discipline. Let's take this to the adult level.

A man is motivated to go into the office, to a mundane job, every day, because he doesn't want society to think of him as a bum. He is moved by his feelings. A young woman starts her own clothing design firm and with daily perseverance through many failures, and self-discipline, moves from a once-a-week small farmer's market tent to opening her own successful store in a popular town. She is self-disciplined.

Your grandparents called self-discipline, a good work ethic. What do you think of when you think about self-discipline? Some don't like the word and feel it is too harsh.

Like every teacher, I see self-disciplined children who do excel. But more frequently, I see children who will only do work if there is an emotional component; which means they don't progress as far in their education as they could. Only doing a task when one is triggered by fear, embarrassment, fun, companionship, peer pressure, or jealousy, is not a healthy path to success. Failure, in many areas, can start to set in if every task is approached only when the person relies on their feelings to motivate positive movement. 

When you practice self-discipline, good feelings come as you see yourself improving. Use self-discipline to bring honest feelings. Don't wait for your feelings to cause you to act. 

It is my opinion that the re-structuring of education, with motivation (doing work because of an emotional component) becoming more important than rewards of self-discipline, has produced lower standards in many fields of education. 

I have a theory as to why motivation continues to be stressed ahead of teaching self-discipline in education. 

We now have a generation of parents who were raised within an educational system that employed motivation strategies. (This is not the fault of today's parents.) These parents are now raising children using the tools they were taught which were motivational practices. 

Sometimes I see myself as a one-woman-band trying to guide students in how to succeed with self-discipline. I welcome any educator who wants to join me. 

Gifts for Students Poll: Yes or No

I have waited until the major holidays have passed before giving you the results from my December 2023 poll on "Gifts for Students: Yes or No." I didn't want to influence private music instructors, in either direction, during the gift giving season. 

This poll included teachers from the United States of America and Canada. Teachers that are local to me, and teachers from private piano teacher face book forums, were polled. I have listed some of the comments left by teachers in each corresponding section. There didn't seem to be a grey area in this poll. Teachers were either strongly for giving, or strongly against giving, anything to a student.

I requested that teachers, who chose to respond to the poll, give their location and their gender. They were also given space to leave a comment. Some of the comments were quite strong. The poll was taken near the Christmas holiday in 2023 and many teachers were feeling stretched from a very busy season. And knowing their responses would be anonymous, I believe the option to take this poll might have been therapeutic for some of these teachers. Teaching private music lessons can be alienating for some teachers. Teachers often work out of their homes or through a single teacher studio. Some may not have other teachers near with whom they feel safe enough to discuss their business frustrations.

If you were one of the teachers who participated in this poll, THANK YOU! Some of you have contacted me with your eagerness to read this poll's outcome. Thank you for your patience.

12 Days in the Studio for Christmas

As I write this we are entering the second day of Christmas, the end of this year's Hanukkah celebrations, Boxing Day for my Canadian friends, and Kwanza. The first day of Christmas has passed and now is the time to relax a bit with leftovers, continued gatherings, and a look to the New Year. 

The last quarter of this year was quite an upheaval in this studio with flooding from Ian, home repair delays which included my piano being in storage, vehicle concerns, health concerns, and other bumps in the road that all reared their ugly heads at the same time. But bless God, we came through. So now I can start focusing on what will help me and my students as we come to the end of the year. 

In 2022 I joined a number of music organizations and supported other music businesses online to gain more tools for my studio. As the year has been coming to an end I have noticed that there simply isn't enough time to read all their emails. And honestly, many of the organizations looked like good fits for my studio, but after the initial membership was satisfied, I didn't receive any information that was new to me, or tools that were helpful to my studio and students. I am finding that many of these organizations offer information that is helpful to teachers who are not formally trained, or new to the field and feeling overwhelmed. But for seasoned and degreed teachers, the material is too basic. 

Trimming back music organization memberships for my studio has started. My personal big three connections will continue because there are State connections that my students can benefit from. But I have already disconnected from receiving and renewing memberships to, at least, eight organizations. Will each organization start the year with a new platform to regain my interest or find new followers? Yes, I expect that, but I have seen what they had to offer through 2022 and I know that they are not a fit with my studio. 

What changes are you starting to think about for your studio in the coming year? What changes have you made this year that helped you succeed?